Great Divide Bicycle Adventure:
A while back I heard about this route and since a good portion of this ride is on gravel, my old Koga touring bike wasn't really suited for those conditions. To make it for a smoother ride, I installed a Suntour suspension seat post, a Kinekt suspension stem and pair of 2.25" Schwalbe Marathon tires.
The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) starts in Jasper Canada and finishes in Antelope Wells, by the Mexican border. The route crosses the Continental Divide a total of 32 times. Because of logistics, my route deviates somewhat by starting in Salt Lake City, Utah and finishing in Tuscon Arizona.
The highest point is Indiana Pass at almost 12`000 feet (3`600m) and lowest in Tuscon at around 2`500 feet (760m).
Soon enough... it'll be all downhill... 😌
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| Route Map |
Stage 1: Salt Lake City - Rawlins
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| Stage 1 Map |
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| Stage 1 Elevation |
Started out driving from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City, where a good friend and former work mate, let me borrow his work space to fix up and test ride the bike. After a successful ride we discussed old times over dinner and brews.
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| Las Vegas |
The first day of riding would lead through Salt Lake City, up Emigration Canyon to the Little Dell Reservoir overlook. A fast downhill got me to the I 80 Highway and for a challenging ride up Parley's Canyon to the Park City area. My good friends Bill & Pam were kind enough to put me up for a couple of days.
Riding up those 2 Canyons was a good indication of my fitness and what was to come. I was definitely struggling with the big load (bike and luggage 120lbs, or 54kg).
Arriving at Bill's called for a rest, as I wasn't feeling well. It took a few hours to recover and for now, I blame the altitude! Vegas 2000' (~600m), Bill's residence 6456' (~1970m)
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| Little Dell Reservoir |
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| Bill's View |
After a rest day, it was out the dirt road towards Henefer and Lost Creek State Park, only to find out the road to Kemmerer is private and not passable.
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| Road to East Canyon Reservoir |
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| Lost Creek Reservoir |
No choice but turning around and taking the Evanston route via Coalville.
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| Road to Evanston |
Surprisingly most of the roads 89, 30 & 189 from Evanston to Pinedale were in good condition and with a generous shoulder to ride on.
It was riding on a high plateau with elevations ranging from 6300' to 7500'.
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| Highway 30 |
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| Green River |
So far, every afternoon produced thunderstorms and since civilization was still nearby, I opted to utilize dry motel beds for the first few nights.
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| Dry Camping |
Realizing that changing the tire size on the bike altered the gearing ratio, I headed for the bike shop.
Perhaps it wasn't all my fitness... 😌😌
"Geared Up" Bicycle Shop in Pinedale provided a speedy service, by installing a 34 T cassette.
Waiting for the work to be done was no issue either, as the Windy River Brewing Company is conveniently next door.
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| "Geared Up" Bicycle Shop's Waiting Room |
Another day off left time to explore the area a little bit. A short stretch out of town is Fremont Lake, one of the deepest Glacier Lakes in the US.
The Mountain Man museum was also time well spent, interpreting on how the West got explored, with men like Jim Bridger.
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| Fremont Lake Overlook |
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| Fremont Lake |
Now the journey continued by picking up the GDMBR and
riding some more remote back roads.
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| Leaving Pinedale |
There is also a little less known Atlantic City. What was a constant, was the daily shower to cool the mood...
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| The Other Atlantic City |
Riding across the Great Divide Basin was a reminder how isolated some areas can be. For 2 days I didn't encounter another 2 legged life form. Constant companions were cows, wild horses and pronghorns.
Although with clouds came the rain drops, it wasn't all negative, as they provided shade.
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| Endless Wyoming Roads |
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| Great Divide Basin Camp |
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| Wild Horses |
A sign of civilization were oil fields, water supplies and paved roads, getting closer to Rawlins.
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| Wyoming Oil Fields |
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| A & M Reservoir Camp |
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| Getting Closer To Civilization |
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| Skunk Weed |
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| 5th Continental Divide Crossing Before Rawlins |
Rawlins was also a place to eliminate some excessive luggage, by making a trip to the post office, sending home about 10lbs of anchor weight!!
600 miles done and many more to come...
Stage 2 to follow from further Down the Road...
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